Eric Trump: My father would be 'foolish' to release his tax returns

Eric Trump said Wednesday it would be “foolish” for his father to release his tax returns as calls intensify for the Republican nominee to do so.

Donald Trump has not released his tax returns, saying he is being audited and will do so once it's wrapped up. His decision not to disclose his returns breaks from the long tradition of presidential candidates making their forms publicly available. Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine have released their tax returns; Mike Pence has said he will.

Story Continued Below

“There is no tax attorney in the world who will tell you to release your tax returns while you're under a standard, routine audit,” Eric Trump said on CNBC. “It would never happen. Anybody who thinks that is in La-La Land. … It would be foolish to do."

Eric Trump added that he is the biggest proponent of his father not releasing his tax returns.

"His tax return, did you see the Twitter picture, it's 5 feet tall," he said. "You would have a bunch of people who know nothing about taxes trying to look through and trying to come up with assumptions they know nothing about.”

Donald Trump’s tax returns have become a key campaign issue with Democrats hammering him for not disclosing them and saying the returns could reveal hidden business interests, particularly with Russia. Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has publicly challenged Trump to release his tax returns, saying he will release his own if Trump does.

Still, Eric Trump maintained he does not think his father should release them.

"You learn a lot more when you look at somebody's assets," he said. "You know how many hotels we have around the world. You know how many golf courses we have around the world. You know every single building we have."